Meeting Minutes

1. Tainan’s push to become a smart city earns international respect: With a people-centered foundation, city government integrates technology and culture

I. The smart city movement is a quickly developing worldwide phenomenon, and in the last few years Tainan City Government has been successful in its efforts to combine culture with 4G smart technology. Furthermore, the promotion of science and technology has brought about the following six smart city features: (Tainan City’s) Smart City Operation Center, disaster prevention for typhoons and floods, smart transportation, mobile learning, smart and healthy communities, and smart traveling. The above improvements have led to Tainan City becoming the first smart city in Taiwan to have 4G mobile communication-aided city governance, which has helped pave a modern civilization path for Taiwan’s oldest city. All this hard work has been recognized by the international community; the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Tainan City as one of the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2017. Facing over 400 cities for only 21 spots, Tainan entered the highly competitive event with the theme of “Internet of City”. The city’s performance proves that Tainan made the right choice of developing itself as a smart city.

II. “If we want to solve problems affecting city residents, we must not only develop technology for technology's sake”—the above is the core principle of Tainan City as it seeks to develop smart city qualities. Essentially, a smart city needs to be people-centered, and it also must have warmth that only humans can provide. We will continue to work hard in order to make information public, offer e-governance, and provide other related services in the future. I am confident that we can integrate technology and culture, making Tainan City a community that’s competitive economically among the world’s smart cities. I also believe that we can leave behind a wealthier foundation for the city’s next generation.

2. The flu is rampant, so we’re making health a priority by getting residents vaccinated

I. Influenza runs amok during the fall and winter seasons. This is why this year Tainan City Government has been working with the central government in allowing the following groups of people to receive free flu shots at public health centers or specially-commissioned medical institutions: people over 50 years old, those with high-risk chronic diseases, major illnesses and injuries, rare diseases, pregnant women or mothers who have given birth sometime within the last six months, and children from as young as 6-months old to high school students. In addition to this, Tainan City Government is also offering free pneumococcal vaccines to senior citizens above the age of 65; so this group of elderly people can get this vaccine and the flu shot done at the same time, benefitting from a caring and convenient medical measure that the country’s other city and county governments don’t offer.

II. Statistics show that children from 6-months old to kindergarten are a high-risk flu group, as they’re very likely to be infected with and experience serious complications from the virus. Percentages for the last flu season indicated that children aged six and under were more likely than any other age group to contract the flu virus. As for the likelihood of suffering complications or dying, this group of young children was second only to elderly people over age 50. Furthermore, this group of young children was 1.2 to 7 times more likely to suffer complications or die than average person, which shows that the threat the flu virus poses to the health of our children is not something that we can neglect. I would like to once again encourage every person that meets the requirements to ensure that they stay healthy by getting a flu vaccination. So, grab your I.D., NHI IC Card, and other pertinent personal identification documents and then head to the nearest public health center or any of the 344 medical institutions we have signed contracts with.

3. Issues concerning next year’s Taiwan International Orchid Show

I. Beginning in 2005, Taiwan Orchid Plantation, which is located in Houbi District, has hosted the Taiwan International Orchid Show for 12 straight years. On weekends and holidays as many as 50 to 60 thousand people enter the plantation to see the orchid show, which is an extremely important event for Taiwan’s orchid industry.

II. Tainan City Government’s Agriculture Bureau has organized and analyzed information on the last few years of the orchid show. One factor involves limited space, including the orchid display area and parking lots. The other factor is that, except for the orchid show that typically lasts for around 10 days, most of the year the plantation is vacant and thus can’t be utilized effectively. Furthermore, the plantation itself and the surrounding area have not experienced growth despite hosting the event. Due to the above reasons, the plan for next year is to move the orchid show to the Commercial Exhibition Center Tainan in Rende District. As for the Taiwan Orchid Plantation, it will be converted into an orchid-themed tourism and recreation area, and there are plans to add orchid exhibitions, an orchard flower market, orchid restaurant, orchid ecological education opportunities, and an orchid tourism factory. By regularly hosting events and exhibitions the plantation will go from having only one annual show that lasts a mere 10 days to holding events every month, which will attract hordes of tourists. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that there’ll be an orchid exhibition every day, and this will more effectively bring about economic development for Houbi District and the region north of the Tsengwen River.

We were fortunate to have President Tsai Ing-wen visit the Taiwan Orchid Plantation after she was elected president, and the president showed that she cared about the development of the country’s orchid industry. The difference between the orchid industries of Taiwan and the Netherlands is that this island country places great emphasis on breeding, but, excluding professionals, many of the people involved in plant breeding are amateurs who are doing it for their own enjoyment. Visitors from other countries will look at and buy new species of orchids from these horticultural enthusiasts and then both register them on international platforms and grow them en masse. In order to deal with the above situation, the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association and those involved in the orchid industry have suggested that the central government provide support in setting up the Taiwan Orchid Species Service Center, as it would contribute greatly to the promotion of the orchid industry. Tainan City Government’s hard work resulted in the Council of Agriculture choosing to establish the Taiwan Orchid Species Business Services Center at Taiwan Orchid Plantation, and the Council of Agriculture has already agreed to a grant of NT$50 million. Tainan City Government will use this money to make Houbi District’s Taiwan Orchid Plantation be able to hold not only orchid exhibitions but also daily events, as it will help give the plantation a fresh start, which is why this decision was made in the first place. We hope that city residents will be able to understand what we’ve done, and we’ll have the city’s Agriculture Bureau explain the situation publically so that any potential misunderstandings won’t lead to unnecessary disputes.

Reports

1. Report from Tainan City’s Bureau of Economic Development: “Business Counseling for Tainan City’s Commercial Districts and Current Status of Business Activity Promotion” (refer to written sources for details)

Resolution: Approved for reference filing

Mayor’s remarks:

I. After being upgraded into a special municipality, Tainan City formed a commercial district service team in order to create first-rate commercial districts as well as improve the competiveness of current business districts. This service team takes into consideration information on all of Tainan City’s commercial districts, and progressively it is creating development blueprints for these districts. Commercial districts in general have given positive feedback on projects for clearing out covered walkways, pushing for the creation of pedestrian zones, and efforts to improve the lighting and overall environment of commercial districts. Before the business counseling effort began there were 9 commercial district organizations and now there are 19. Furthermore, 15 administrative districts now have at least one of these district organizations. These encouraging figures show the hard work as well as how much the Bureau of Economic Development has contributed to commercial district counseling.

II. In order to adapt to ever-changing modern technology and fickle consumer tastes as well as helps Tainan City’s smart city policies take advantage of resources from the central government, the Bureau of Economic Development has been working hard in assisting stores in utilizing 4G technology while promoting smart commercial districts. The bureau has also dedicated itself to business modernization counseling, and it is seeking to both improve the service quality of stores and increase their customers by utilizing business counseling programs like the service team and companies selected as Tainan’s Best Stores.

III. Every year, Tainan City Government seeks to increase business opportunities by holding events like the Tainan Shopping Festival, Tainan Business Expo, Chinese New Year Market on Sinhua Old Street, Sinying Carnival, and NCKU Commercial District Halloween Festival. These events make the business sector stronger, and every year they help increase the popularity of the city’s businesses and commercial districts. As we want to attract large numbers of customers for our stores, this year we are taking the exceptional stores that qualified for Tainan’s Best Stores outside of Tainan by having them join travel expos and set up shop in department stores in other cities and counties. The above strategy will help promote Tainan’s commercial districts and the images of local companies as well as bring about sales growth.

IV. The Bureau of Economic Development started working hard at providing business counseling since 2015 that would make stores bilingual, and both stores and international visitors have had positive things to say about the city’s bilingual movement. In the future, assessment mechanisms part of Regulations for Providing Commercial District Counseling in Tainan City will be used to meet goals for sustainable development and ensure that the workings of commercial district organizations are healthy and comprehensive. We would like to once again say thank you for all the hard work Director-general Fang of the Bureau of Economic Development and his team have put in.

V. 1) We asked the Bureau of Economic Development to look into the feasibility of having commercial districts help stores obtain halal certifications. Therefore, we are welcoming our Muslim friends from abroad to come to Tainan to visit or take up studies, and when here they can be involved in halal food jobs, as this would be a convenient work opportunity for them. 2) We are working at improving enforcement of the Commercial District Covered Walkway Clear Out Plan so that commercial districts can operate more efficiently. 3) We will continue to communicate with other entities so that the pedestrian zones for Guohua St. and Jhengsing St. will be open at the same time, which will prevent travelers from being confused about the zones’ times.

2. Report from Tainan City Government’s Public Health Bureau: “Healthcare System Set Up by Tainan City: Results and Outlook (refer to written sources for details)

Resolution: Approved for reference filing

Mayor’s remarks:

I. Global Views Monthly’s 2014 and 2015 county and city mayoral administration satisfaction surveys found that Tainan City had the nation’s highest satisfaction rating for healthcare administration for two straight years. In 2016, Tainan earned higher satisfaction ratings than the island’s other five special municipalities. In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s 2013-2015 local government healthcare administration satisfaction ratings showed Tainan City had higher ratings than the other five special municipalities for three straight years. Since the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County, the average life expectancy of residents here has risen from 78.26 years in 2010 to 79.58 in 2015, which is an increase of 1.32 years and 1.02 years higher than the national average. This achievement is no easy feat, so we’d like to express our gratitude to the Public Health Bureau team led by Director-general Lin for their hard work and contributions that have kept Tainan City’s residents healthy.

II. Tainan City has a population of 1,885,499 people. As of September 2016, 13.58% of the city’s residents are 65 and older, and when compared to other special municipalities we’re second only to Taipei City’s 15.33%. Tainan City’s figure is also higher than the national average of 12.99%. By offering medical care centered on prevention and treatment, physiological and psychological care, personal health and environmental sanitation, and care with the human touch and treatment that utilizes technology, we will be able to provide a whole-person medical program that’s focused on the whole person, whole time, and whole process. By doing this we’ll be able to offer comprehensive care to city residents of every age.

III. When creating a complete medical care system, the following factors need to be distinguished: prevention and treatment, physiological care and psychological care, and personal health care and environmental sanitation treatment. Furthermore, care with the human touch and healthy treatment options must be infused into the system. The system now has 5 years of experience, and “mobile hospitals and health check-ups for all citizens” have already served 172,408 people. Furthermore, the service satisfaction rate is at 99%. Starting officially in June 16, 2011, the Free Full Dentures for Elderly People Aged 65 and Above Program as of October 2016 had completed 52,023 cases and it’s still carrying out the service today. The percentage and total amount of dentures performed is being done on a larger scale than any other city or county in the nation.

IV. I expect that in the future the Public Health Bureau’s mission will be to improve the health and life expectancy of all city residents. Furthermore, the department should be able to make the people have high expectations for their own health as well as continue to promote holistic healthcare services that are active and caring. Overall, we want to make Tainan City become a place that’s great to live in and a smart and healthy city that’s elderly friendly. We will also be active in making sure that we participate in international selection contests in order to increase Tainan’s international visibility while helping raise the city’s competitiveness.